GAFFNEY, S.C. – The nationally 15^th-ranked Limestone University men's lacrosse team fell way behind after going scoreless for nearly 30 minutes of game action and was unable to mount a late comeback as visiting Newberry College handed the Blue and Gold a shocking 13-7 home loss on Sunday, March 28.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Newberry 13, No. 15 Limestone 7
Records: Newberry (4-4, 3-3), No. 15 Limestone (5-3, 4-3)
Location: Saints Field
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
 

• Freshman Frank Smith (Bayville, N.Y.) tallied three goals and an assist on 14 shot attempts
• Sophomore attack Jason Madden (Walnut Creek, Calif.) added a pair of goals
• Freshman Chris Erneston IV (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) tacked on a goal and an assist
• Sophomore Ethan Stannard (Caledon, Ontario) finished with a goal
• Junior Owen Consoletti (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) was held scoreless but dished out an assist
• Graduate keeper William Baxter (Manchester, England) logged nine saves
• Senior Dakota Kirsch-Downs (Odenton, Md.) went 5-of-11 on faceoff attempts
• Sophomore Tyler Wright (Port Republic, Md.) caused four turnovers
• The Saints were outshot 47-39 while the Wolves finished with a 47-32 edge in groundballs
• 17 of Limestone's 39 shot attempts came in the fourth quarter
• Newberry won 14-of-24 faceoff attempts and was 2-for-2 on extra-man opportunities

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
First Quarter
 
An early turnover by the Saints allowed the Wolves to jump out to a 1-0 lead just 90 ticks into the contest. Limestone was unable to find the back of the cage in the opening minutes, but the transition defense denied a pair of Newberry clear attempts, leading to the equalizer at the midway point of the first quarter.
 
Graduate Jordan Stouros (Ottawa, Ontario) picked up a groundball off a turnover and started a break for Limestone before Madden tied the game at 1-all with his fourth goal of the season. However, the Wolves would answer with a man-up goal with 5:13 remaining as the visitors pulled ahead, 2-1, at the end of one.
 
Second Quarter
 
The Blue and Gold tied the game a few moments into the second as Smith took it himself off a restart before Limestone grabbed its only lead of the day with 7:43 remaining in the half. Following three timely saves by Baxter in goal, Stannard put the Saints in front, 3-2, on the other end off an assist by Consoletti.
 
Limestone pushed the run to three straight goal less than a minute later as Smith tallied his second score of the day, doubling up Newberry, 4-2. The Wolves would counter with two quick scores though, including a man-up goal at the 3:20-mark, and held the Saints off the board as the game went into the break even.  
 
Third Quarter
 
Newberry came out of the half unstoppable as the visitors buried four straight goals on four shots over the first four minutes of the third, surging ahead 8-4. The Saints only mustered six shot attempts in the period, none of which found their mark, while committing three turnovers as Limestone was blanked in the frame.   
 
Fourth Quarter
 
The Wolves essentially put the game out of reach early in the quarter as a pair of scores over the first five minutes capped a dominating 8-0 stretch. The Saints would finally break through on offense, snapping an almost 30-minute scoring drought when Madden planted his second goal of the afternoon with 9:39 left.
 
That gave the dormant Limestone offense some life and would make things interesting down the stretch as Erneston and Smith tallied back-to-back extra-man goals to cut the deficit to 10-7 with 6:03 remaining in regulation. The Blue and Gold would get one more man-up chance a few ticks later, but Consoletti's shot was saved before Newberry ran up the score with three goals over the final 1:28 to seal the upset.
 
TURNING POINT
 
After being held to a single goal in the first quarter, the Saints opened the second with a 3-0 run to take a 4-2 lead with 7:10 remaining in the first half. That would be the last goal for Limestone until the 9:39-mark of the fourth quarter while Newberry scored eight goals during the decisive stretch to move in front, 10-4.
 
NOTABLES
 

• Limestone is 5-0 when scoring 10 or more goals in 2021 and 0-3 when held to less than 10 goals
• Sunday's upset was the first time the Saints have ever lost to another South Carolina program
• The Saints have lost three conference games in one season for the first time in program history
• It was the first ever meeting between Limestone and Newberry
• The Blue and Gold is now 14-of-28 (50%) on extra-man opportunities this year

 
UP NEXT
 
The Saints will have a quick turnaround as they travel to take on first-year Anderson University in a conference matchup on Wednesday, March 31 at 7 p.m.